Dewberry curled up into a tight ball, tongue flicking in and out of her mouth furiously. She was barely paying attention to the smell anymore - what was there to detect besides blood, anyway? Father was - he was hurt, and she couldn't do anything to help. The lizard and the moose were huge, and she was tiny and weak and utterly useless. For a brief desperate moment she wanted to go get Mother or Sister, to race back to the sweet-smelling tunnel and get more capable Gembound to help. But the caves were so large and she knew she'd never make it in time. All she could do was watch and hope that Father could continue to defend himself.

@Greed @Blueberry

Reseda watched the bone puncture the moose's shoulder and her tongue flickered with satisfaction. The swinging antlers actually seemed like a pretty good way to get herself a little more beat up and so she took a small step forward to let them cut her side a bit before she jumped back and readied her attack.

This was her opportunity. She was careful as she built up the energy, not wanting it to backfire this time, before she set a silent beam of light and energy towards the moose, feeling the heat against her eye. Last time he had dodged it. Would he have the same luck again?

Round: 4
Attempt: LZER TIME
Defense: none
Injuries: stab wounds on her stomach
@Blueberry

A bright flash of light blinded the moose, and then there was pain. Just. Pain. He screamed he growled, he let out a bloodcurdling cry. Vomit surfaced as the source of the pain faded, leaving his body weaker and battered. However, he stood on three shaky legs, his eyes narrow slits as he stared at Reseda.

He balanced of two hooves for a moment, then stomped one down, cracking the bones beneath it. Blue let out an anguished battle-cry, before focusing all his energy into the spell that all Bloodberry's shared, the one that showed a creature their intermost fears. However, it backfired, and Blue found himself living his own worst nightmare.

Blood pooled the ground, at least a foot deep. The bodies of his precious children floated in the crimson liquid, their eyes black and glossy. He stood in the middle of it all, blood in his mouth, on his antlers, coating his fur. His body was battered and broken, his mind shattered. All around him, he heard whispers.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill! Kill! KILL! KILL KILL! He felt tears stream down his face, and he stomped his hooves as if he was pouting like a child. Another body floated by. Blackberry. Blue's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, Blackberry floating closer. He nuzzled his face into her soft feathers, inhaling her scent. The blood began to rise, filling his mouth and his lungs and his entire body. He was drowning in the blood of his family, tasting sorrow.

The Berry came to, tears streaming down his face. He smelled the stale scent of bones and the tang of his own blood. He felt the pain, and he stared back at Reseda, angrier than ever.

____________________
"Hear my war cry"

Tags: @Greed
Notes: here

Round: 4
Attempt: Scare her
Defense: None
Injuries: Injured leg, injured shoulder, radiation pulsar beam hurty

Reseda didn't know what was going on when the moose suddenly buckled to the ground and began to cry, but she guessed that it was the strange spell she had heard about where the target saw their worst fears. She wondered what kind of an effect it would have on her...

But there was no time to think about that right now. It was time to get back to the fight. This t ime she had plenty of time to pick out with bone she was going to use. There was a big one, with a nice, sharp edge nearby. She gathered the magic and willed it to lift. As the moose recovered, she aimed it carefully at the moose's head and then, with a push from her mind, the bone shot forward like a bullet.

Round: 5
Attempt: bone to the face
Defense: none
Injuries: stab wounds on her stomach, scratches along her flank
@Blueberry

Battered and broken, Blueberry barely had time to react to the bone that shot towards him like a bullet. It hit him in the head, going almost all the way through, breaking off a bit of his gem, turning parts of his brain to mush. He fell to the ground, the edges of his vision blackening. For a moment, he thought he heard the familiar hoarse honk of his beloved Blackberry. He smelled the scent of his home, heard the voices of his children as they trained. He felt the warmth of them, remembered the pride he held for them all. His lasts thoughts were of Blackberry, the one who owned every fiber of his being. His eyes glazed over as he whispered, "I love you Blackberry. Forever and always."

____________________
"Hear my war cry"

Tags: @Greed
Notes: Happy 1 year Blue. It sure had been a wild ride. I'm gonna miss you. <3

Round: 5
Attempt: He is dead
Defense: Dead
Injuries: Death

Reseda watched blankly as the moose fell, her tongue flicking a moment later as she tasted the dark, heavy stench of death already billowing from the moose's corpse. She didn't need to check to see if he was actually dead. The blood running from his head and the smell told her enough. She had done it. The father was dead. And she felt nothing.

But her task wasn't over. She had killed the beast, now it was time to present it to the seven. It was time to claim her victory over a member of their most hated enemy. And then, when she was done, she would collect her reward, her true reward. This was just one step on the way to the top.

She would come back with the gem. What would she look like, coming back to Orion without the gem of the beast in his head? That would look suspicious. No, she would present the body first and then take the gem as her reward. And that would get her her power.

She flicked her head and rolled some magic around the moose's body. It was a bit of a strain to get the beast to float, but she managed to do it. She had to be quick if she wanted all of this to look real. If it took her too long to get back, the moose would be too cold and stiff to look recent and her wounds would be old. So she took off at a fast pace, easily traversing the bones as she stared at the floating corpse before her, carrying it back to the Throne.

*exit

Posting for Blue's missed roll! Sorry about that mods!

Character: Greed Age: +11 (11 Cycles) Magic Level: +5 (Master) ROUND 1 Attempt: +8 Penalties: -5 (Power Play) ROUND 2 Attempt: +1 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +10 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - Total: #58

Character: Blueberry Age: +11 (11 Cycles) Magic Level: +3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +18 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +15 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +1 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +1 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: + n/a Penalties: - Total: #49

WINNER: Greed

Power Play - please remember how strong your characters are, and how strong or tough the enemy is. A Komodo Dragon is quite small compared to a fully-grown bull moose, with quite a weak bite, and relies on bacterial infection (possibly venom) or blood loss rather than brute strength in physical combat. To shear a moose's leg off or even break it would be virtually impossible for one!

Dewberry was frozen with shock. How had this happened? One moment they were fighting normally, and she'd thought Father the probable victor even with his injuries. After all, he was Father. He was huge and powerful and experienced. But then the lizard had fired some sort of light beam and Father had collapsed and now he was... Dead?

This couldn't be true. This couldn't be happening. But it was, and now the lizard was moving him away like a big piece of prey. And Dewberry had done nothing to help. She'd been a useless coward. And now Father was dead. He was never coming back, they'd never have another conversation or a training session, she'd never ride on his back again and Mother and Sister would be so angry.

Dewberry wanted to flee and hide from their wrath forever. At least that way she'd be safe. But hiding was what had caused this disaster in the first place... she couldn't let that happen again. Besides, they needed to be warned. If a huge seemingly undefeatable moose like Father had been killed, who knew what might happen next? She had to warn them. With that thought in her head (and purposefully blocking out the ones about Father), Dewberry slithered for their tunnel as fast as she could.

--exit